Carlos Castillo Overthrew Democrat

In 1954, the CIA helped overthrow Guatemala’s democratically elected president. Guatemala is a Central American country south of Mexico, is home to volcanoes, rainforests and ancient Mayan sites. Many things were important in the Guatemalan Civil War including the war background, major events, how long it lasted and initial conflict. This war is the most brutal war in Latin American history.
The guatemalan civil war started in 1954 when the CIA helped overthrow a democratically elected president, which left-leaning government led by Jacobo Arbenz(Guy).

Some of the people that were killed were from indigenous communities. Some named it A genocide against the indigenous maya (Guy). They thought that the war was an ambush on maya people but they don’t think that was the point of the war in the first place. General Efrain Rios Montt Gained rule after coup (Guatemala’s Brutal ). He made the 1965 constitution, that dissolved congress and suspended political parties. In 1913, a new constitution was made and democrat election was resumed 2 years later after montt was kicked out (Guatemala’s Brutal ).
Military backed and carlos arana became president, Carlos put the country in a state of siege giving military way more control with civilians (Guatemala’s Brutal ). There was reports being made blaming guatemala for all illegal killing and missing persons. In 1954 the U.S central intelligence agency started coup controlled by Carlos Castillo. In 1960 Carlos Castillo was murdered and Miguel Ydigoras took over as president. In 1966 civilian rule was restored to Guatemala and Cesar Mendez was elected president but the civil war was only intensified (Guatemala’s Brutal ).

In 1954 the U.S backed coup when Carlos Castillo overthrew democrat president Jacobo Arbenz, The U.S casted him as some type of hero for winning over communism. Once he became president he didn’t let illiterate guatemalans vote, he removed the agrarian reform law and made peasants give up there land (Ladd). In 1966 the civilian rule was restored and human rights violations continued and in 1966 election gave power back to the revolutionary party candidate Julio Cesar (Ladd). Not many voters realized he had a secret agreement with the army to not interfere in the war against left wing guerrillas, But Montenegro won , and violence became worse between the left and right wing (Ladd).
In 1970 Carlos Arana a military commander became president, he campaigned to get back law and order in right and left wing, and quickly suspended civil liberties and by march 1971 more than 700 political killings had occurred (Ladd). By the mid-1970s, repression in rural areas had intensified, and in 1977 President Jimmy Carter passed a bill to cut off military aid and credit to Guatemala(Ladd).

The war began in 1960 as a consequence of guatemala not listening to the government oppression. After being ruled by military men for awhile cesar mendez gained power, He was the only ruler sense the war began (Whittemore). Guatemala’s 36 year civil war began as left-wing guerrilla groups started battling government military forces( Guatemala’s Brutal ). This war made armed conflict between the government and rebel militans this killed over one thousand lives and made many more people homeless (Pierce). At the beginning and during the war, the masses of Guatemalan society were consistently dominated by a class of Elites who owned the vast majority of the land (Pierce). Most of the land was controlled by multinational corporations, the U.S owned the united fruit company in 1940 and 1950 this made concerns for well being.

After a 36 year long war more than 200,000 people were killed and left the countries devastated. Guatemala returned to peace and signed an armistice with the government and guerrillas that was an agreement that said they had to stop fighting, It is not necessarily the end of a war, since it may only constitute an end of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace (Whittemore). At least 200,000 people were killed in the 36 year long civil war in 1960)Guatemala’s Brutal ). The war ended in 1996, and at the end at least 83% of the people killed were mayan Guatemala’s Brutal).

The government in guatemala was the reason for at least 90% of the deaths that occured in the guatemalan civil war, more than 200,000 people died because of the guatemalan government (Mcdonnell). In 2013 the old dictator gen was put in jail for more than 80 years for crimes and the killing of 1,771 people when he was dictator (Mcdonnell). The government was overturned by Jacobo Arbenz the president of guatemala in 1951 to 1954. He was a communist, and made governments of the west uncomfortable, the U.S invested a lot of money in guatemala (Whittemore).

The U.S involvement was signaled by the commission for contributing to violating human rights, and they trained officers counterinsurgency skills because there president went to easy on communism (Whittemore).

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